research

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft kicked off its annual TechFest internal science fair on Tuesday, touting a wide range of projects that span from new views of outer space to efforts much closer to home.

Among the projects being shown are several efforts in the area of search, where Microsoft has been counting on its research team to help the company better compete against Google.

Research chief Rick Rashid didn't mention Google by name, but did say that investing in basic research can help a company when technology shifts and as new rivals emerge.

"You don't know what's … Read more

CORK, Ireland--William Henry, an applications specialist at Ireland's Tyndall National Institute, can't tell you exactly how long one of the miniature LEDs the organization has developed will emit light. But it's a long time.

The micro LED--which is significantly smaller than conventional light-emitting diodes--requires only a few billionths of an amp to operate. Thus, it can survive for quite a while on a limited power source. One of the researchers on the project had one running constantly for two-and-a-half years on his desk. Then someone damaged it while moving it around. One member of the group calculated … Read more

It's one of the oldest, most common problems in photography: that picture you thought would be the prize shot is out of focus.

Refocus Imaging, a Silicon Valley start-up, thinks its technology can be used to make cameras that can fix that problem--after you take the photo.

By fitting a camera's image sensor with a special lens and then processing the resulting data with new methods, Refocus Imaging's technology will let photographers fix their photos and exercise new creative control after the shutter is released, founder and Chief Executive Ren Ng said.

"There's a lot … Read more

CORK, Ireland--A radiation detector initially created to protect orbiting satellites has found a new purpose inside cancer patients.

The Tyndall National Institute--a scientific research institute and graduate school in Cork, Ireland--has come up with a radiation detector that fits inside an implantable medical device that measures how well radiation therapy is working. The FDA approved the use of the DVS (Dose Verification System) from North Carolina's Sicel Technologies last August for breast cancer and prostate cancer patients, said Brendan O'Neill, head of the central fabrication facility at Tyndall.

The DVS collects information about patients and then transmits … Read more

Nokia and the University of Cambridge are showing off a new stretchable and flexible mobile device of the future called Morph.

The new concept phone is part of an online display presented in conjunction with the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition underway through May 12 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The device, which is made using nanotechnology, is intended to demonstrate how cell phones in the future could be stretched and bent into different shapes, allowing users to "morph" their devices into whatever shape they want. Think Stretch Armstrong for … Read more

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation said Thursday it awarded 17 teams a total of $2 million for contest entries to develop technologies for kids' education and digital media.

The innovative competition was unveiled last August. Seven teams won either $100,000 or $238,000 for creating new digital environments for informal learning, and 10 teams won between $30,000 and $72,000 for inventing concepts around networking in education.

One winner was Greg Niemeyer of the Center for New Media at UC Berkeley. His team, which won $238,000, developed Black Cloud, an environmental studies game that'… Read more

Hey, Mr. Music Executive: scrap your preoccupation with CD sales and start looking for ways to help people share, yes share music; focus more on developing and profiting from artists; and forget about subscription services and ad-supported music.

These are the conclusions of James McQuivey, a Forrester analyst, according to a report titled "The End Of The Music Industry As We Know It," issued on Tuesday.

That's a fitting title because the report reads like an obituary. Tower Records, a music mecca for decades, has already closed but McQuivey argues the real deathblow to the industry will … Read more

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BARCELONA--Research In Motion's co-chief executive officer, Jim Balsillie, doesn't seem too worried that the second major outage of the company's BlackBerry service in 10 months could hurt its reputation with corporate customers.

"It was an intermittent delay, a couple of hours," he said. "It's old news. It happened days ago."

Balsillie's comments were in response to a question about Monday's outage and how it might impact the company's relationship with corporate customers. Balsillie had just given a keynote speech and participated in a panel discussion at the Mobile World Congress … Read more